Gloucester principal stands by his statements

Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan is standing by his statements that a significant number of student pregnancies were deliberate and intentional.

Stephanie Silverstein

Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan is standing by his statements that a significant number of student pregnancies were deliberate and intentional.

“I honestly do not remember specifically using the word ‘pact’ in my meeting with the Time magazine reporter (Kathleen Kingsbury), but I do specifically remember telling Ms. Kingsbury that my understanding was that a number of the pregnancies were intentional and that the students within this group were friendly with each other,” Sullivan said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

“My only direct source of information about the intentional pregnancies at the high school was the former nurse practitioner at the health center. My other sources are verbal staff reports and student/staff chatter, all of which I have found to be very reliable in my experience as a principal, and all of which I filter myself for accuracy and keep confidential,” he said.

At a press conference Monday in City Hall’s Kyrouz Auditorium, Superintendent Christopher Farmer told reporters that when asked, Sullivan was unable to recall where he had learned of the intentional pregnancies.

The school department requested that Sullivan make no public comments, and he was not at the press conference.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk told reporters, “I wasn’t comfortable with having the principal here, because I haven’t had verification of any of his statements.”

Response to the Time magazine article threw Gloucester into the spotlight and put pressure on city and school officials to determine if a pact did or did not exist.

Kirk told reporters she had not confirmed the existence of a “pact” among students, and that there was no evidence to believe that there was one.

“There’s been a lot of emphasis placed on whether or not there was a pact. The reason it’s important for the leadership to know, meaning the chair of the School Committee, superintendent, and myself, is because if there was knowledge of one by anyone associated with this situation, why did they not come forward? This is a serious question that I am looking to get answers on,” Kirk said in an interview with the Beacon. “We need to know if the proper notification was done up the ranks.”

Kirk said school staff has an obligation to report such information so that an intervention could be put in place.

Farmer told reporters, “There were a group of girls who were being pregnancy tested with a regularity that would lead one to the conclusion … that they were not trying very hard not to get pregnant. We also understand that some of them expressed pleasure at being pregnant.”

The students have not been questioned by Farmer or by Kirk. Farmer would not comment on whether he will continue an investigation into a pact, and Kirk said she will not be investigating it further.

“If the girls want to speak with me, my door is open,” she said. “This is a private matter with their families. We are going to respect that.”

Farmer would not comment on the future of Sullivan’s position in the schools, but Sullivan said in his statement that he is looking forward to getting the high school ready for the fall semester.

Farmer told reporters he spoke with Kingsbury prior to Monday’s press conference, and that in her conversation with Sullivan, she did not distinguish between the questions “Was there any evidence of a pact that a group of girls were collectively intending to become pregnant?” and “Were there a group of pregnant girls who, by virtue of their common circumstance, came together to talk about supporting one another as they bring up their babies?”

Farmer said, “I believe the issue of a pact has been greatly overstated.”

Moving forward

Over the next two months, the School Committee will be making policy decisions to be put in place regarding student pregnancies.

At present, the student health clinic does not have the authority to distribute contraceptives. Student Health Center Nurse Practitioner Kim Daly and Dr. Brian Orr have resigned from the clinic, effective June 12, because they felt Addison Gilbert Hospital, which backs the clinic, would not support the distribution of contraceptives. The decision to make contraceptives available in the school lies with the School Committee, but would need the approval of the hospital for the policy to be put in place.

“I’m not comfortable with the confidential contraceptives, but I’m not at all comfortable with nothing. There’s got to be something in between,” said School Committee Chairman Greg Verga. He suggested the possibility of introducing contraceptives in stages. “As a father, I don’t think confidential is the way to go right now. I’m not final in my answer, I’ve got to hear what people say.”

Verga and his wife, both Gloucester High School graduates of the Class of 1986, were expecting a child during their senior year. They married that August, and their daughter was born in December 1986. He said that while he has no regrets, he does not advise students to become pregnant.

“It’s not easy for these kids. It’s not going to be easy,” he said.

Farmer said he does not necessarily think the pregnant students or, after they give birth, student parents will have an affect on other students in the classrooms.

“All high schools finish up with some girls who are pregnant. It’s our policy to do what we can to ensure they are able to complete their high school education,” he said. “The babies are not in the classroom, the babies are in a designated part of the school. Girls are not typically going to be leaving the class to go to their babies; that’s not what the deal is.”

Kirk has given Public Health Director Jack Vondras the task of researching the issue and putting together a panel of experts to meet with the School Committee before they make policy decisions.

“I will be looking at the issues of teen pregnancy, teen pregnancy trends and consequences, the impact on youth, current methods for addressing issues of teen pregnancy, options considered for Gloucester, and recommendation for the School Committee,” Vondras said.

As mayor, Kirk is a voting member of the School Committee. She served on that committee for two terms prior to her election as mayor.

“We are bringing in experts, research-based information, as well as examples of what works in other school districts in order to guide the School Committee to comprehensive approach that is in the best interest of Gloucester children, our families, and our community,” Kirk said.

Teenage pregnancy is an item on the agenda for the June 30 School Committee meeting: “To receive for information only a report on preparations for a briefing meeting for the School Committee by people with expert knowledge and experience of the issue.”